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Patrons who enter Tacos y Salsas are greeted with bursts of color on all sides, from the red, turquoise and blue Mexican-made tables and chairs to the “jarritos” of mango, strawberry and lime sodas stored neatly near the cash register.

The TV in the front room of the restaurant at 1923 9th St. is tuned in to a talk show in Spanish, and the music of Chino y Nacho, a Venezuelan pop duo, echoes from the back of the kitchen.

Many of those who frequent the restaurant are at home among the ambient noises of the language, but the restaurant’s main waitress, Angie Leos, takes orders from customers in equal parts Spanish and English.

Every day, she serves blue and white collar workers on break, families, teenagers and singles in one constant stream of hustle-bustle.

It’s been like this since the day the restaurant opened in March, Leos said.

David Martinez, owner of Tacos y Salsas, said his restaurant uses only select raised beef. The restaurant employs one woman whose sole job is to cook fresh corn tortillas on-site. And even though it’s cheaper to offer fountain drinks, the jarritos of soda are only offered in bottles.

It’s how soda is served in the “cafeterias” of Mexico, Martinez said.

He would know. Martinez’s father, Miguel, opened his first Tacos y Salsas 14 years ago in Aurora after years of traveling back and forth from Mexico with a work visa to cook for a restaurant that served American food.

In Greeley, the success of Tacos y Salsas could be a sign of revival along the 10th Street corridor.

Most of the city’s focus has been on 10th Street from 23rd Avenue westward — Greeley officials did a neighborhood and commercial study and developed a plan to reduce the number of access points and beautify that portion of the road — but this section of 9th Street, a one-way road from the downtown area west to 23rd Avenue, serves as an important transition corridor to the rest of 10th Street, said Becky Safarik, Greeley’s assistant city manager.

While nothing formal has been done on the city’s part to begin redevelopment, the corridor could be “on the cusp” of some real change, Safarik said.

She said it easily could be a new target for Greeley’s Urban Renewal Authority, which works to identify projects that could benefit from redevelopment funds.

Brad Mueller, Greeley’s director of community development, said that part of 9th Street already incorporates more lax redevelopment policies, such as allowing developers to use existing buildings, and loose requirements for parking space and landscaping .

With no shortage of Mexican restaurants and storefronts advertising deals and products in Spanish in the area, Safarik said it could become a replica of Greeley’s development plans along the north 11th Avenue corridor.

“This is kind of evolving to be more of a spontaneous Mercado District,” she said, referring to the city’s plans to encourage a sort of Latino marketplace along north 11th Avenue that embraces traditional bread and meat shops and adobe styled structures.

Or, 9th Street could become a more global corridor. Rumi’s House of Kabob, an authentic Middle Eastern restaurant, has drawn customers from downtown and even the west side of the city, and other world cuisine businesses could follow suit.

Safarik said she wouldn’t be surprised if, in the next year, 9th Street sees more momentum.

An American Dream

In the meantime, business at Tacos y Salsas shows no sign of slowing, although Martinez said the restaurant spends surprisingly little money on advertising.

Most of his business comes from word of mouth and loyal customers from the restaurant’s other locations in Colorado.

Sure enough, customer Ricky Ybarra, a weekly regular who first ate at the restaurant’s Denver location, brought six of his coworkers to the restaurant for lunch on Wednesday.

Leos said she has tried almost everything on the menu, which includes tacos “de buche” (pork stomach) and tacos “de lengua” (cow tongue). Her favorite is the chicken fajitas. With business at Tacos y Salsas booming, Martinez said he hopes to expand further into northern Colorado and then set his sights on areas south of Denver. A graduate of the University of Denver with a degree in international business, Martinez said he started helping his parents with the restaurant when he was 12 or 13, and decided to continue on with the restaurant instead of pursuing a career with his degree.

Martinez said the first restaurant was a triumph for his dad.

“I guess that was his dream, his goal, to have one, and now it’s 11, and we’re growing.”